Nightshift
by Dru619
Summary: Elliot and Olivia see different sides of members of their New York precinct as they, individually, discover a secret. Takes place after the events of season 7's 'Blast'.
1. ME Warner

Hello all! *waves* :)

I started this a few months back and have only completed two chapters but I was thinking about re-visiting it. It really took on a life of it's own!  
Meant to take place sometime after season 7's 'Blast'. If you're willing to stretch the imagination a bit (which, after all, fan-fiction is all about right? ;D) it will have all taken place 8 days following the events of 'Blast'.

Enjoy!

-Dru

* * *

He lay in the cribs and didn't hear her until she walked into the room.

Even though he heard her then, he still jumped at the sound of his name.

"Elliot?"

Aching muscles protested as he forced himself into a sitting position. Dizziness was quick to overwhelm him; he swung his legs over his cot and rested his face in his hands. Olivia crouched at his feet and soon after, his hands were replaced by the soft, cooling sensation of hers. No words were exchanged as she gently pressed him back down to rest on his flattened pillow, even though so much stood unsaid between them.

It had all began Monday night…and had barely given them a chance to breathe since then. A sequence of events spanning over 6 days. Each day bringing a different, somewhat off-balanced side of members of their New York precinct they never expected would surface. Members which included Elliot and Olivia themselves.

But it had happened. Each day like clockwork, something would happen between the two of them and one of their colleagues, and Elliot and Olivia were left to sort out the confusing line of questions afterwards. Olivia was often worrying herself, hardly being able to concentrate on her work.

It began on a Monday.

**Monday Night**

**[Tuesday Morning]**

**Squad Room**

**Midnight**

Elliot stared at her, eyes drooping from exhaustion at the desk across from him.

"Liv…," he prompted gently. "Olivia."

"Hmmm? What…? Where was I…?" she fumbled clumsily through her post-dozed off state. Elliot grinned.

"If I do remember…I just sunk your battle ship."

Olivia frowned at the plastic pegs in front of her and then raised an eyebrow.

"No…," she stood up and stretched dramatically, reminding Elliot of a cat awaking from a Sunday nap. "_I_ just sunk _your_ battle ship."

Elliot had admitted to Olivia two days ago that he had been sleeping in the cribs stationed just off their squad room. That he feared going home to an empty house and was often awoken by devastating nightmares involving his children. Olivia, confused and scared about their fragile relationship, was unsure of what to do. But she knew that leaving him alone wasn't an option. She had been sleeping alongside him, on the cot opposite his wall for the past two nights. She was met with vehement resistance at first, but Olivia had made up her mind and after a few jabs at her being 'stubborn and ridiculous', Elliot gave up. Elliot wondered how long they could 'sneak around' like they had been. Being the last two to say goodnight, being the first two there in the morning with coffee brewing. Munch had already brought teasing attention to the latter that morning.

"As much as I enjoy beating you, I say we call it a night," Olivia said, a smile shining through her tired voice. "I'm going to go brush my teeth."

"Okay…," Elliot grinned. "Cheater."

Olivia shot him a look before disappearing out into the hall. Elliot worked on cleaning up their Battleship board, getting frustrated that the box wouldn't close until he took all the little pegs out individually. He jumped about a foot in the air when he turned around and the doorway was occupied by someone other then Olivia.

"Melinda?"

"Elliot?"

SVU's stunned medical examiner froze, her mouth slightly agape with question. "I didn't think you'd still be here."

It wasn't until then that Elliot noticed her tear streaked face, her shaky hands and uneven breathing.

"Are…are you all right?" Elliot asked, the image of the always well put together, strong woman now disarrayed and upset shocked him. Melinda opened her mouth to speak but nothing but a strangled sob came out. As if the noise had snapped her back into reality, she was quick to quiet herself again and take a few steps into the room. Elliot took her arm and was quickly shot a startled glare. She shook him away and sat down into the seat Olivia had just vacated. The room settled into an uneasy silence. Elliot couldn't help but notice how lost Melinda looked, her naturally droopy eyes exaggerated in the dim light of the squad room.

"I'm having nightmares, Elliot."

It had only been a few nights since they had been taken hostage and Melinda was forced to shoot a coked out shooter in the leg.

"It doesn't have anything to do with what happened to us," she was quick to snap, almost as if reading Elliot's thoughts.

"Okay…," Elliot leaned up against Olivia's desk, arms crossed. "So…what does it have to do with?"

"My daughter." She said it with an air of reluctance in her voice. "I keep seeing Carly in that car…but instead of Carly it's her. It's my daughter." Elliot was unsure of what to say, silenced by the fact that Melinda sat there telling him this. She continued quietly, her head bowed in an attempt to hide the sneaky tears that insisted on leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "I've been staying late the past few nights. I'm exhausted…I don't want to go to sleep but when I do....all I see is blood. Blood and the dark and the screams of a little girl…"

"Melinda…," Elliot started softly. "You saved 3 lives in the span of two days. Do you realize that? None of them would be here without you right now. Carly included."

Melinda stood up abruptly then, as if Elliot's words had prompted her to do so.

"I…I have to go, Elliot. I'll see you later."

He didn't try to stop her but as she went to open the door, it opened first, revealing Olivia standing out in the hall. The startled women stared at each other with wide eyes. Olivia saw the tears, her heart hammering with instinctive adrenaline.

"Sweetheart…,"

It was the soft, soothing tone Elliot was coveting these days. Melinda crumpled into Olivia's chest, crying softly into her neck.

The three talked into the early hours of the morning, all ignoring their individual nagging exhaustions. Melinda talked about her two years in the Air Force with gentle prompting from Elliot. She talked about her daughter and her husband and how Casey Novak reminded her of a scared little girl or a puppy with its tail between its legs. They laughed and had the horrible generic coffee the precinct offered them.

A careful, unsaid appreciation traveled through the three of them. Olivia revealed why she was there so late with Elliot, something she'd never thought she'd do. Melinda just smirked, touched by the little insiders' secret. She rolled her eyes when Elliot told her it was just between the three of them. Even after she left around 4, Elliot and Olivia spoke in hushed tones, voices hoarse from lack of sleep. They lay across from each other in their cots but couldn't sleep.

When Cragen ambled an hour later they were waiting with coffee, their game of Battleship cleverly hidden in Olivia's desk for later.


	2. Olivia's Dream

Hi guys :)

It looks like I may be in for a wet and cold weekend ;_; So, we'll see how much writing I can get done! Enjoy!

Also...I obviously do not own Elliot, Olivia, SVU, or any of their brand of awesome.

-Dru

* * *

**Wednesday Morning**

**The Cribs**

**2:30 AM**

Olivia awoke violently, her hair stuck to her neck which was sticky from sweat. She sat up and took in a few deep gulps of air, rubbing her hands over her face before chancing a glance over at Elliot. He slept soundly, quiet snores emitted from him every so often. His breathing calmed her.

It had been an utterly exhausting day after spending the night sans sleep Monday. Elliot and Olivia had to come look at a body around noon, a 35 year old male with what had appeared to be a self-inflicted gun shot wound. His four year old son had found him in the basement. Olivia was surprised to find that she felt jittery, and not due to the lack of sleep or the nature of the case but due to the apprehension at seeing Melinda. Her worrying seemed silly once they made their way down to the morgue. Their kind-hearted medical examiner looked just like she would any other day, hair in a stylish frizz around her face, eyes alert as she flitted around her examination table. Professional.

That night the two of them had no problem going to sleep after their final round of Battleship. Olivia curled up under the scratchy covers of her cot and whispered a quick goodnight to Elliot. He was already snoring gently across from her. The sound eventually lulled her to sleep.

It was the vividness of Olivia's dream that had awoken her so suddenly. The uncharacteristic words that had left her mouth sounding so sure and final. She watched as Elliot breathed and tried forcing away the images that got her heart pounding anxiously in her chest.

**Olivia's Dream**

**The mind of Olivia Benson **

**Tuesday Night**

_I need you, Elliot._

The words startled her as they left her mouth. Had she really just said that? Olivia Benson?

She didn't need anyone. She had gone most her life without _needing_ anyone. Especially a man and especially Elliot Stabler. But the words had, in fact, been completely hers and hers alone. Elliot looked equally as shocked as she did.

The Special Victims Unit was bare that Thursday night, a rarity for the New York precinct. Novak had just won a slam-dunk case of a father who had been abusing his two young step daughters. She had gone home over two hours ago, eventually followed by the others who were excited at the notion of a full nights interrupted sleep. The dull darkness had become lulling and familiar to Olivia. She felt safe and in her league when she was here, at her desk and in Elliot's presence. She found her olive colored eyes stuck on Elliot's, unable to look away even after the revelation that had just escaped her lips. The words hung in the air, waiting patiently for someone to proceed with more.

The Eugene Hoff case had closed a little over a year ago. Olivia still saw the dead children on occasion when she closed her eyes. The images came to her only briefly and at random times. When she interrogated new suspects, when she ate and when she slept. They came to her now as she stared at Elliot. She remembered how she felt that day, a sickening nausea sinking into the pit of her stomach. She closed her eyes and tried taking a deep breath.

"Liv…what is it?"

Elliot concentrated on her from across his desk, trying carefully to dodge her initial words and unsuccessfully trying to ignore the elephant in the room.

_I need you, Elliot._

It had ended a fight that had gone on for almost 15 minutes. Olivia rarely raised her voice to him and without saying much Elliot had gotten her near tears.

"It's everything," Olivia finally said, her voice coming out strained as it fought through a lump in her throat. She was looking down at her desk now, feeling her face burn as she tried ignoring Elliot's stare. The stare that was more often sparking warm feelings in her belly. The one that seemed to make all the tugging feelings of dread go away.

"Could you talk to me?" he asked, his voice coming out lower then he had intended.

"I don't want to talk," Olivia scared herself as she got to her feet. Elliot mirrored her actions and took hold of her arm.

"Elliot…don't."

He smirked and Olivia could feel her face warming again, angry now. She tried pulling away from him but he held her tighter.

"I'm not afraid of you, you know," Elliot practically sang, careful to watch Olivia's reaction.

"Why are you doing this?" Olivia spat, confused at this out-of-character turn he was taking. But his gaze froze her and soon she felt his other hand slide down her arm. He slowly began walking her backwards until her back was flush with the wall behind her. Olivia took in another breath. Had Elliot just backed her up against the _wall_? She felt the pace of her heart quicken. Neither said anything, just stared at the other. Olivia finally thought she had found her voice but was violently silenced as Elliot nuzzled into her cheek.

"Liv…," he whispered gruffly against her ear. Olivia was taken aback at the intensity of the chills shooting down her spine. Her body refused to fight him. Hands, warm and strong had just experimentally perched themselves on her waist. Her body took her by surprise again as she heard herself moan. Elliot's thumbs were rubbing gentle circles at her waistline and Olivia _didn't know what to do_. So she closed the gap between them and pressed her lips, hard and needy against him. He reacted quickly, pinning her arms over her head and hungrily kissed back.

Just as he pulled away, the two anxious and in need of air, Olivia was jolted awake. She felt petty and angry when she felt her face flush pink with embarrassment. She climbed slowly out of her cot, careful not to make any noise. When she was back in the squad room she sighed, turning on her desk lamp which flooded her disarrayed paperwork in a dull yellow.

It would be another long day.


	3. Munch

Who else is watching the SVU 'more than partners' marathon on USA today? :) Cute, right?

I know a couple people are watching this fic but no one has commented yet ;__; I'd really like to know what you guys are thinking!

Anyhoo, here's Munch's chapter. Enjoy!

-Dru

* * *

**Wednesday Afternoon**

**East 23rd Street**

**1:15 PM**

"I mean…I _guess_ I can see where it would have looked good on paper but I refuse to buy in to any of it. I mean, Santa Claus? Really? Do we _really_ have to introduce deception that early on in life?"

Olivia had to bite her tongue to keep from groaning out loud. She had gotten used to Munch's tirades long ago, and normally, they were actually a welcome distraction to the stress of what was going on. That was, if he managed to stay reasonable. That gray, foggy, and glum afternoon, Olivia found herself especially not in the mood for any of it. She hadn't been able to fall back to sleep after the startling vividness of her dream had awoken her earlier that morning. Even worse, when Elliot had awoken and offered her coffee, she found herself inexplicably jumpy and irritated. Sitting in the back of one of their undercover vehicles, Munch in the passenger seat and Elliot in the driver's position, wasn't doing wonders in helping that mood either.

Cragen had sent them out on a stake out which Olivia was almost 99.9 percent sure was going to lead no where. This particular suspect had, had plenty of time to get out of the country and was probably half way to Spain by now. It was the fact that Olivia was also 99.9 percent sure this suspect wasn't their perp that kept her from getting too anxious about it and it was only when she was absolutely certain other energies were being utilized to locate the real guy that she agreed to go along with Elliot on the stake out. She still wasn't sure how Munch ended up tagging along. Somewhere in between complaining about paperwork and phone calls he managed to sneak his way in.

"You're being awfully quiet back there, Liv…," Elliot noted, glancing in his rearview mirror at her. She was busy tracing the trails of rain drops down the window with the tip of her finger. It was clear Elliot was looking for a way to divert Munch off of whatever he had been rambling on about; Olivia had lost track.

"She's just mad that Cragen wouldn't listen to her," Munch smirked, intertwining his hands together and resting them on his chest as he reclined his seat back a few inches. Olivia found strange comfort in the fact that his signature dark glasses were on, despite the dreary conditions outside no where warranting their use. She shrugged.

"Just tired I guess." At least that wasn't a flat out lie. The truth was that ever since waking up, her mind hadn't stopped working at a break-neck pace. She would think about work, a case. Without warning, her mind would yank her out of those thoughts and throw her back into the ones from the night before. Elliot and his warmth. It was beyond frustrating and instead of being upset with herself, she was feeling short towards _Elliot_. She knew it was wrong; he hadn't done anything and no one was forcing her to give up her nice warm bed for a scratchy, uncomfortable cot in the drafty cribs. But she also couldn't find the drive to muster up the energy to fight her irritation. Startling her, Munch abruptly cranked his seat back into its original position and arranged his body so he was facing Olivia.

"Alright, enough already," he half-way sighed, his tone tired and accusatory. "What is going on with you two?"

Olivia's eyes widened as Elliot, who too had arranged himself to avert his attention to the backseat, shot her a glance.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.

"Did Melinda say something to you?" Elliot asked, obviously becoming accusatory himself. Munch scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as he looked at Elliot and laughed.

"No, but I'll be sure to hunt her down later," he said. "I mean, you two are visibly out of sorts. Elliot, do you know how long I had gone on just now without you giving me anything more than a nod? Liv…why didn't you snap back with your normal Liv type spunk?" He did a strange thing with his hands here that made Olivia burst out laughing. Elliot, now regretting he had been so quick to misjudge their medical examiner, just smiled and shook his own head, tilting it back and sighing.

"Munch, Munch, Munch…," he said, clicking his tongue. "Nothing gets past you, does it?" Munch looked characteristically smug.

"Well…no. So…okay, you already know I'm going to be hounding Melinda later, you might as well cough up the goods." Elliot and Olivia again glanced at each other with the same agreement. Elliot turned serious and in the vaguest way he could, explained to Munch what had gone on between him and Kathy. Munch sat and listened intently, staying as quiet and still as Olivia ever remembered seeing him. Every now and then he'd make a small noise of understanding. After Elliot finished, Olivia took over with her story. That she had made up her mind about keeping him company while he tried sorting things out. Munch smirked at this.

"Tough break, Liv!" he chuckled. The three were quiet for a minute until Munch did something Olivia saw out of Elliot every day, but rarely saw out of her other opinioned colleague. But then again, she rarely gave him any material to go off of. He turned serious on a personal issue.

"You are _so_ damn lucky to have Benson as your partner, Stabler." Even this was coated with a teasing sense about it.

"You think I haven't realized that?" Elliot grinned, faking offense. "Alright let's get out of here." He turned the key in the ignition. "You guys up for some burgers?"

"Obviously." Munch turned back around in his seat. "Liv?"

"I go where you guys go," she smiled to herself, clicking her seatbelt back on around her waist. The cold was beginning to make her stiff.

Olivia took comfort in knowing that Munch had taken their confession as some sort of a 'partner bonding' thing. Of all people, she knew Munch understood that angle more than anyone. As he had the night before, Elliot warned that this was just to be kept amongst the three of them. Olivia couldn't be sure due to those dark glasses, but she knew Munch well enough to know that he was probably rolling his eyes.


End file.
